The muscle and motility community at the University of Pennsylvania proposes to establish a training program in Muscle Biology and Muscle Disease, to be supported in part by the T32 mechanism. Members of the Penn community are known world-wide for excellence in muscle research, yet a unified muscle training program does not currently exist. There are no T32-related muscle biology grants at the University of Pennsylvania. Therefore, we developed a, new training program that includes new graduate-level courses that relate directly to training in muscle biology and disease. Our proposed training program would support 2 predoctoral students and 2 postdoctoral students, enabling them to work in any of 20 laboratories directed by principal investigators who are leaders in the study of the cell biology, genetics, physiology, and/or pathology of muscle. Although the range of interests and expertise of the trainers on this grant is broad, the training is focused on elucidating the mechanisms of muscle function and disease. The program is designed to take advantage of the highly collaborative nature of the faculty, thus providing the trainees with the opportunity to integrate molecular and clinical aspects of muscle biology into their research. This diversity provides for the potential for an unparalleled training environment in the area of muscle biology. This is evidenced by the many prominent scientists around the world who have trained in this field at the University of Pennsylvania.